Loving Young
by SilkyButterflyWings
Summary: Bella and Jacob get their hearts broken young. Will they overcome it?
1. Leaving Heartache Behind

I know most of you have already read this, but yes, I am the author of this story, I just changed profiles. Okay? Remember that :) Anyway, I need reviews. My other stories I am in the process of writing. Won't be long, kiddies! Please Review!

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Bella knew her feelings for him even while she was a little girl. At the age of twelve, Bella didn't quite understand love - didn't know what it was. But, she knew it involved her best friend, Jacob. Jacob, with his short black hair and dark brown eyes. He looked at her as if she were the sun, the stars, the moon. He thought she was beautiful, even at a young age.

"I'm already planning a wedding," Charlie, Bella's dad joked.

"Got that right. Something about those two…" said Jacob's dad, Billy. Billy was stuck in a wheelchair and had a hard time taking care of his only son and twin daughters. A car accident killed the three's mother. Jake, who was thirteen, barely even processed what was going on. He just couldn't wrap his mind around the fact that his mother was gone forever and would only be found in his heart.

Bella was in the tailgate of Billy's truck with Jacob. They were sitting down with their legs swinging over. Bella held onto Jake's hand like she always did, not really seeing the harm in it, but Jacob's heart did flips every time she did.

"Are you okay?" Bella asked. For a twelve year old, she knew a lot and understood most of what was going on in their life. "I mean, with your momma?"

Jacob shrugged and stared at their feet swinging, ignoring Bella's brown eyes that were searching his face. "I don't know, Bells. It's just…hard. I wish I could see her again."

Bella knew how he felt. Her own mom moved away to Jacksonville, Florida to get away from her ex-husband. She threatened Charlie to take Bella away too, but Bella refused to leave Jake in such a desperate time of need.

Bella bit her lip out of habit and bumped Jake's shoulder lightly. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"I just…don't want you to leave. I'll miss you." he whispered, peaking up at her from under his lashes. Bella blushed lightly. She hadn't thought about her issue in a while. She was so worried about Jacob that she completely forgot about her own situation. Just the thought of having to leave him made Bella's stomach turn.

"I'm not." she said stubbornly. "They can't make me, Jake. I won't leave, I promise."

"Don't make promises you can't keep." Jake warned her. He knew he wouldn't be able to take the pain that that broken promise would bring and he didn't want to suffer it. Bella smiled weakly at him.

"And even if they force me to move," she continued as if he hadn't interrupted, "I'll still call you. I won't forget. And I'll visit." she added. Her eyes prickled at the thought of never seeing her best friend again. She swallowed back the lump in her throat.

"I hope you stay." Jake murmured. "But, hey, before you leave, just…come see me before you're gone."

Bella nodded. He didn't even have to ask her. That was her original plan; she wouldn't go far without Jake.

Billy and Charlie were both sad about Bella leaving. Charlie had yet to tell Bella that she was leaving the next week. He wanted her to enjoy her last days here without worry.

"I told Jake when she was leaving," Billy told Charlie. "He's even more depressed than he was before. Can't you talk Renée out of it?" Charlie tried four times to talk Renée out of it; no use. She was dead-set on her plan.

Billy didn't wait for a response.

"Jake, time to go!" Billy called over. The two fathers watched as Jacob and Bella hugged for several seconds before both hopping out of the truck and walking towards the two that summoned them.

"You ready?" Billy asked his son out of habit. Jake nodded absentmindedly, looking at Bella with a small smile. He hoped she stayed. He'd like to think that she would, but knowing that she would be leaving in a matter of days made him cry every night.

"See ya, Bells." Jake said. Charlie pushed Billy's wheel chair to the truck and helped him in. _A couple of minutes of free time left before Jake has to go home_, Bella thought.

"Jacob," Bella said low enough so the adults didn't hear. "I'll miss you so much." Bella felt a tear trickle down her cheek. Jake wiped it away with his thumb.

"Don't worry about it, Bells. It's okay. You don't even know if you're leaving." he lied.

Bella shook her head and pushed her long brown hair out of her face. "My mom and dad are talking a lot lately…and I think they're planning on sending me to her." Bella was oblivious to the fact that Jacob seemed unsurprised.

Jacob put his arm around her. "You can't know that, Bells."

Bella didn't feel like arguing anymore. She just put her head on his shoulder and looked up at her father. He already had Billy set in the drivers seat. Charlie was leaning on the window, speaking to Billy about some sports game coming on tomorrow.

"Yeah, they play. Awesome game. You want me to come over?" Charlie asked with light in his eyes. Billy frowned slightly.

"Sure. I don't think Jake can handle another trip down here. Not after he found out about her leav-" Billy stopped short when he felt Bella was in ear-shot. He didn't know that Jacob had heard their whole conversation. He just wanted to leave and go cry in his room.

Jacob felt like he was a horrible person. For some reason, Bella leaving seemed more important than his mother's recent death. "Let's go." Jake said, mostly to himself as he walked over to his side and hopped in the truck. Bella felt hurt and rejected.

Her breath hitched as the truck drove away, along with her best friend. She could see the tears in his eyes through the rearview mirror and sucked in a sharp breath. She made him cry.

Charlie saw how bad she felt and wanted to comfort her, but Bella had already made her way up the steps and into the house, closing it tightly behind her. She wanted to be alone.

And nothing in the world could prepare Charlie to tell his little girl that she had to leave in a matter of days.

When Jacob got home, he watched from a few feet away as Harry Clearwater, who had been staying at their house, helped his dad into his wheelchair. After he knew his dad was okay and would be taken care of, he disappeared into his house. He headed straight for his room without a backwards glance. His tears were falling from his eyes and he couldn't stop them.

The only person he had left was leaving and he couldn't do a damned thing about it.

Bella…

He fell on his bed and buried his face in his pillow. He wanted her with him right then. He wanted to talk to her, to make her laugh, to make her smile. He just wanted to see her. After everything that had happened, why would Renée be so set on taking Bella away from him? After the loss of his mother?

His mother…

He grabbed the photograph of him and his mother near the forest. He remembered how she kept trying to fix his hair and complained how it never stayed un-disarrayed. He could remember how he made fun of her for even caring about it and said he looked 'sexy' with it just to make her smile back.

The picture was a good one. She was wearing her favorite jeans and old black hoodie that said Washington in huge letters across it. Under that, Quileute was in cursive. Jacob suddenly wished that for one more second, just one, he could see his mom again and tell her that he loved her and that he was sorry for ever doing something wrong to make her mad. To hug her and tell her he missed her.

But he couldn't.

Never again.

Jacob sighed heavily and heaved his chest. The tears came and went for hours until he finally fell asleep. He would see Bella before she left him. He would make sure of it.

_**One Week Later.**_

Bella was all packed and ready to board the plane. Charlie helped her load all of her belongings into the back of his cruiser. "Ready, kiddo?" he asked her with a sad smile. She nodded, but didn't smile back at him.

The drive to La Push was agony for Bella. She just sat there, staring out the windshield, silently hoping that a miracle would happen and her mother would cancel her flight. But that wouldn't happen. Nothing good ever happened to her.

She stayed silent for the entire ride, ignoring Charlie's attempts at small talk. She wasn't interested. After about fifteen minutes, they were pulled up in the Black's driveway. Neither made a move to get out.

"She's taking me away from Jacob." Bella whispered, watching as her breath fogged up a small part of her window. Charlie shifted in his seat.

"I know, kiddo."

"Can't you tell her I don't wanna go?" Bella's voice had a desperate edge to it. Charlie wished that Renée would listen, but she wouldn't. That just wasn't in her nature.

"I tried. I don't want to see you go any more than you want to go, kiddo." Charlie felt helpless. "I tried." He said again. Bella sniffed.

"She's taking me away from Jake, dad." she repeated.

"You have an hour." Charlie replied as he opened his door and got out. Bella followed suit and walked with Charlie to the door. It was chilly out and it didn't help that she was wearing a tank top and _really _short shorts. Charlie knocked on the door quickly, hoping that Bella would appreciate his time limit he gave her.

They waited a few seconds before Rebecca, a twin sister, answered. She was the prettiest of the twins, Bella thought, though she looked as if she'd been crying. "Hey," Rebecca's voice was nasally from her stuffy nose. Bella smiled at her, but it didn't reach her eyes. "He's in his room." She said to Bella.

She nodded and walked down the hallway to the last door. Jacob's room. She didn't knock; she just opened the door and stepped in. Jacob was sitting on his bed with his knees drawn up and his arms thrown carelessly over them. He was looking out the window.

Bella sat on his bed in front of him. She was watching him. He had been crying, she knew. His eyes were red. "Jacob…" she whispered before she collapsed into his arms. Jacob held her tightly and stroked her hair softly. He would miss her. A lot.

"Please don't leave me." he whispered into her hair before placing a kiss there. She nodded as a dry sob escaped.

"I don't wanna leave, Jake." she answered. "Why do people have to be so cruel to us? We never did anything bad." Jacob felt the wetness of Bella's tears through his shirt. He had to do something to make her feel better; make her smile. He didn't want their last moments together to be wasted on tears.

"Well, I wouldn't say we didn't do everything _good_." he whispered in an amused voice. It worked. Bella pulled back to look at him. She had no idea what he was getting at.

"Huh?"

"You _do _remember when we threw mud all over your dad's car, right?" Jake found himself smiling, even though the story wasn't for his amusement. That was a funny stunt they pulled; smearing mud all over the windshield. Jacob had talked Bella into it after it rained.

"Oh." Bella smiled at him. "Yeah. And it got me in trouble." she almost had a pout-y look. Jacob laughed at her.

"Well, I'm glad it was funny." she said sarcastically and threw him a dirty look. He just shrugged.

"How about the time when Quil came over and we - _I _- popped the tires of his bike?" Jacob knew this would entertain Bells for a while.

She laughed lightly. "Yeah, emphasize the fact that I lack know-how more than the usual human being." she readjusted herself to sitting up and leaning against Jacob's window, blocking his view of whatever he had been staring at earlier.

Jacob didn't care. "Yeah, he was pissed at me for two weeks. And he still reminds me of it." It was true. Quil didn't ride his bike anywhere near the Black residence anymore. Bella pushed her hair away from her face.

"Do you wanna do something?" Bella asked Jacob suddenly. "I only have about forty-five minutes before I have to leave."

Jacob was shocked. He had expected to have at least half a day with her. His eyes started to fail him as they filled with tears. He blinked them away. He would not cry in front of Bella. He would make her smile and laugh and have a good time.

"Yeah. Uh…let's go to the beach, I guess." Jacob hadn't meant to lack enthusiasm, and it came out in a dull whisper. Bella pretended not to notice and got off the bed fairly quickly - for her lack of coordination.

"Let's go." Bella whispered with a small smile forced on her pretty face. Jake grabbed her hand and pulled them along, out of the house.

On the way to the beach, they didn't talk much. Jacob talked about a dirt bike he was fixing up and how Quil kept talking about this girl he was planning on taking to a school dance. Bella wished Jacob would take her to a dance. But, she couldn't, even if he did get the nerve to ask her.

Bella nodded along with everything he said, enjoying every minute she could spend listening to his voice. "Jake, why were you crying earlier?" Bella asked him. Jacob stiffened a little at the question, but forced himself to answer it.

"Uh…because I don't want to see you leave. I'll miss you. And I just lost my mom. And my dad's paralyzed from the waist down. My sisters are cutting themselves to relieve their 'pain'. Bella, I'm thirteen. I shouldn't have to deal with any on this. And you leaving isn't helping." Jacob had said it all in one breath, and it was as if a heavy weight was lifted off his chest. He could breathe freely again. That was the first time he'd ever brought all of his problems up to someone. He usually cared about everyone else, but right then, it was important to Jacob that he spoke up. He knew Bella would understand.

"Jake," Bella mumbled, looking out into the ocean instead of looking at him. "You know I want to stay more than anything. But, it's not in my control. I swear if I could stay, I would." They were almost to the shore line. Bella's feet were damp from the sand.

She had about twenty minutes left with Jacob. She wanted to do something they would usually do if everything was the way it was supposed to be. But it wasn't. And she couldn't.

"I don't think I can take much more of this, Jacob." Bella whispered. "I just want to stay. I don't want to move to Florida. I want to just…stay." Leaving wasn't what she wanted to do. Living in Jacksonville with her mother and possibly a new boyfriend wasn't very appealing. She wanted her life with her friends and parents back.

"Hey," Jacob put his arm around Bella as she started tearing up. "you'll figure it out, okay? You'll be fine with your mom, Bells. I'll be fine. I'll call you. Don't worry, okay? And hey," He gave her shoulders a squeeze. "you'll be down for summers. It's not like it'll be years before you see me again."

Jacob dropped his arm and moved in front of her to put a hand on the sides of her. He was staring into her eyes. Jake hadn't thought he would be so close to her when he did this. Their lips were inches apart…

He kissed her softly. A gentle touch of the lips.

"Bella!" Bella heard someone call to her. She whipped around. Her dad was about forty yards away from them. If Charlie had seen anything, he didn't act like it. Bella knew what time it was.

Time to leave.


	2. Unbelievable Happenings

Hey guys, second chapter. It isn't as long as I would have liked but it's good enough. I'm working on the 3rd as we speak...or read or whatever, anyway, Nothing drastic happens in this chapter, but next chapter, WELCOME DRAMA! Again, if you would like to know more about me, PM and and I'll give you details about my Facebook Account and such...

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Jacksonville, Four Years Later_

Bella fixed her forest green blouse so that it was perfectly un-wrinkled. She knew that today would be the day she saw her best friend, Jake. She was going back to Forks today.

She was finally sixteen. Bella hadn't been able to afford a plane ticket back home for all those summers. It had been four years since she saw Jacob last, and she didn't know if he was mad at her or not. She could only hope that he would forgive her.

Her mother lightly tapped on her bedroom door. "Honey, are you ready?" her sweet voice echoed off the walls in the hallway. Bella nodded softly. Bella knew that she looked different. To herself, she looked foreign. Her hair was longer, almost to her waist. Her facial features were sharper, more defined. She was beautiful now, more than ever.

Her mother helped grab two of her suitcases and carried them down the stairs. Bella's palms were sweaty and her heart raced in her chest. She couldn't even picture Jacob. She just couldn't wrap her mind around a seventeen year old that she knew since she was four.

And just like that, Bella felt disgusted with herself. Jacob had just lost his mother when Bella left Forks and she hadn't said a word since he kissed her.

She secretly wondered if he had a girlfriend now.

"Bella, honey! We're all ready!" her mother called from somewhere downstairs. She sighed and flew down to meet her, anxious to be gone already. Her mother was already getting in the car when Bella finally got downstairs.

She copied her mother and slid into the backseat in a daze. Did Jacob still like her? Did he still want to kiss her. The whole time she'd been in Jacksonville, she hadn't dated anyone. She was quiet, so she didn't have very many friends, and she knew that if she went to Forks, she would freeze. The sun was so bright and warm in Florida, she just didn't think she would get use to it fast enough.

"Ready to see you're dad?" Phil asked her. Bella looked up at him, noting the fact that he was driving a little too slow.

"Yeah," Bella answered quickly, ready to be done with the question. She didn't want to talk to him. "Mom?"

"Yeah, honey?"

"How long am I staying in Forks?" Bella didn't know how long she was supposed to be staying. A few weeks, she thought. But when her mother hesitated, every second made her heart grow.

"I thought you were moving permanently…" her mother answered in a questioning voice. Bella had brought it up. She told her mother that she didn't plan on moving back because of Jacob, but she never really dreamed that her mother would take her seriously. "I mean, that _is _what I told your father. That's what he's expecting."

"Okay," the excitement barely slipped into her tone, and for that she was grateful. She didn't want her mother to know how much she hated it in Florida. The hot sun, the too-tan people. The only dark people that she missed were the Quileutes on the reservation back in Washington.

"Well, that is what you want, right?" Her mother seemed to still be questioning Bella.

"Yes."

"Are you sure?"

"I can't wait," She knew her mother, and if Bella hadn't given her mother a straight answer, she might not be staying in Forks very long. Gladly, that ended the conversation and Bella was allowed to daydream about what Jake looked like and what type of conversations they would have and him kissing her…

_La Push_

Jacob was sitting on his couch, flipping through crappy television. He wasn't used to having so much time to himself. What, with patrols almost every day with hour breaks in between, he didn't know what to do with himself. While having so much time and so little to do, he let his mind wander to a girl he hadn't seen in four years. Bella Swan. He couldn't help but remember the way she would hold his hand when they were little, or the way she would smile at him. His heart ached when he realized that those long years were empty waiting.

She never came back. Never called. Never wrote.

She forgot about him. _Of course, she did_, Jacob thought bitterly, _why would she? _After all, he was just a seventeen year old with anger issues. Oh, and not to mention the fact that he exploded into a giant dog.

He hoped that if he ever got the chance to see her, to talk to her again, that she would accept him for who he was. Bullshit, he thought. She wouldn't. A beautiful girl like that wouldn't want a giant Indian from the small reservation in Forks.

Jacob's thoughts were interrupted by the hounds of his best friends, Quil and Embry. "JACOB!"

"What?"

_And just when I was having a peaceful moment in my own misery_.

"Do you got any food?" Embry asked, scratching the skin on his elbow as he made his entrance, followed by the full-of-himself Quil. Jacob thought about telling them to hit the road, that he just wanted to be alone to wallow in his pity and loss, but he nodded in the direction of the kitchen, exactly where said food was.

He followed the two boys into the kitchen and jumped up to sit on the counter. Jacob thought about what Bella would say if she was there, with the three overly-muscled shirtless teenagers. Putting his foot on the counter and resting his hand on his knee, Jake relaxed as he spoke to them. "So, what's up?" he asked them, looking at Embry as he raided the cabinets for something to snack on.

Quil answered, "Nothing much. Just starving our asses off. Sam made us check the perimeter for a sign of the leeches, but we got nothing."

Jake sighed and ran a hand through his short black hair, "I figured as much," He mumbled, letting his gaze drift away for a few seconds. "He's giving me a break, as if I want one."

Embry snorted as he scored a bag of chips. "_I _need one and he gives _you _one? That doesn't make sense."

"I think it's 'cause you're supposed to be Alpha and stuff." Quil concluded. "He thinks you're the boss and needs special treatment." Quil rolled his eyes at the nonsense.

"Oh, you're just jealous." Jake laughed and stuck his tongue out at Quil.

"Oh, I'm sure."

"So am I." Jake retorted, giving Quil his most friendly smile.

"Oh, I almost forgot to tell you," Embry blurted. "Charlie said his daughter was coming down to live with him."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah," Embry said with a chip in hand. He took a bite, then, "Weren't you in love with her or something?"

Even though Embry didn't mean for it to hurt, it stuck a nerve for Jacob. He felt an ache in his stomach, a dull throbbing, a longing in the pit of his chest. He suddenly felt very ill. "Yeah." he muttered in response, clutching his stomach lightly and squinting his eyes in pain.

Quil threw him a confused look. "You okay, man?"

"Yeah, you don't look so good…" Embry added, finishing off the bag of chips and crumpling up the plastic in one hand. "Maybe you should go see Sam or something."

Jake knew something was wrong as soon as he felt sick. Something was wrong; werewolves weren't supposed to get sick, so why did he feel nauseous and lightheaded?

_Flying_

Bella was going to be _sick_. She never liked flights, never liked the thought of being so high up in the air that she could just fall and -

Bella threw herself out of her seat and rushed to the small toilet in the back of the plane. She let go of the remains of her breakfast with a sickening sound. Flying on a plane when you're deathy afraid of heights…not so good…

_La Push_

Jacob decided against going to Sam's. He didn't feel the need to tell him that he had a stomach ache; it wasn't that important. Jake just figured it was nerves since he was going to see the girl he was in love with very shortly.

After an hour passed, Quil and Embry were called in to run a patrol, excluding Jacob. It left him with more thinking time. Sitting on the couch, all the feelings and questions that Jake managed to fight off for four years finally flooded his mind, filing him with happiness and sorrow and guilt and worry.

What if she had a boyfriend? What if her boyfriend was with her for the visit? Surely if she was staying permanently, she wouldn't bring him, that is, if she even had one. Jacob hoped that she hadn't moved on. He wanted her badly; wanted her to love him just as much as he loved her. As the minutes ticked by, the questions steadily came and went. Did she look different? Did her personality change? Did she plan on staying? Had she ever thought of Jacob while she was away? Why hadn't she come like she said she would?

Questions without answers frustrated Jacob.

He sighed and put his head in his hands. He wanted to see her badly, he really did, but he didn't at the same time. What if she really had moved on from him? Wouldn't that make him look needy and desperate?

Just then, the phone rang loud from the kitchen.

It took two rings before Jacob actually got up to retrieve it, and when he did, he couldn't believe who had called.

"Jacob?" the voice he longed to hear spoke. "Jacob Black? Is that you?"

"Bells?" he whispered, making it barely audible for her to hear on the other line.

"Yes," Bella said, breathing in a sigh of relief. "I'm so glad you're home. My dad was supposed to pick me up but he can't make it. He said you might want to pick me up?"

The hope in her voice was evident, and Jacob wanted nothing more that to go get the girl of his dreams from the airport. "Sure," he told her, holding back a howl of delight. "I'll be there in fifteen."

"Kay, bye." the line disconnected.

"Holy shit!" Jacob muttered as he flew threw the house, grabbing his keys, a teeshirt and bolting out the house.

He went straight to the airport.


	3. Finally Home

Okay, so it's been forever. But I'm better now and I'm writing again. I just have been discouraged with no reviews and stuff...but anyway, on with the show!

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**Jacob.**

Pulling up at the airport was the worst and best feeling Jacob had ever experienced. Worst because he had to wait horribly long minutes for Bella to actually spot him out of the crowd. Not that it was that hard to do - he was six-foot tall, dark skinned boy from the reservation. Not to mention barefooted. He been in such a rush that he hadn't even thought of how odd he would look. But, he didn't care.

Best feeling because he got to see Bella, the girl he dreamt of, the girl he longed to see for so long…

Suddenly, Jacob's heart stopped beating…What if Sam wouldn't let him see her? After all, he was a werewolf and he wasn't that easy tempered these days…

He won't stop me, Jacob thought, feeling aggravated at Sam from the thought of it. No one would stop him. He just had to remember to keep control of his emotions - he had to, to keep her safe.

Just as Jake was about to go out looking for her, she was in view. In the center of the airport, the air blew her hair away from her face like she was in a photoshoot. It looked sort of like a movie to Jacob, but he started liking the idea. A dark green blouse that looked amazing and fitted perfectly, along with dark jeans and two huge bags at her sides, Bella was never more beautiful to Jacob. Her hair was long enough that, even when it was over her shoulder, it reached her waist.

"Jake?" he saw her mouth in disbelief, but not sad or angry in the least. Jacob could sense her eagerness.

"Yeah," he answered, walking over to her, avoiding many people trying to get where they needed to go. He almost laughed when he noticed that she was pale. After living in Florida, she managed to _not _get a tan. "I've missed you." He wrapped her in a huge, engulfing embrace, lifting her off the ground. Her arms snaked around his neck and he never felt happier.

"I've missed you too! When did you get so big?" Jacob released her and smiled the smile he always used on her.

"Just filling out, Bells," he said. "People do that a lot. Especially since you haven't seen me in years."

The hurt filled Bella's eyes for a moment, but she seemed to push it away. "I'm sorry about that." she whispered, but replaced her words with a smile and grabbed a bag. "Walk me to your car?"

"Oh sure, and let you drive it, too," He joked, taking the bag out of her arms and took the other bag in his other hand. "Off we go, Mrs. Swan."

Bella giggled, and Jacob's heart exploded at the sound.

**Bella.**

Bella never expected to see Jacob the day she arrived. She was hoping to prepare herself for something to say to him, to start a conversation. And she didn't exactly have a while to prepare herself in the space of fifteen minutes. But, once she realized that it was just her old friend that hadn't changed into some obnoxious man, she was good to go for the conversation issue.

Sitting in Jacob's big brown truck, she found herself talking and joking with him nonstop. She hadn't realized how much he changed.

"So, do you still hang out with Quil and Embry?" She asked him once he got the truck started.

"Of course," he smiled at her, showing his perfect white teeth. "Who else is dumb enough to make me look smart?"

Bella laughed, "You always were kind of slow." She sighed contently.

Jake scoffed. "And you're Einstein?"

"Yes." she insisted lightly, pinching his arm. He laughed, not affected by her retaliation in the least. Jacob seemed pleased enough that she was back, and Bella didn't want to ruin it, but she had to ask. It was eating her up inside.

"Jacob?"

"Yeah?" he prompted, looking at her for a few seconds before returning his attention to the road. She took in a deep breath.

"How long," she whispered, "until it got better? After I left, I mean."

Jacob's face showed pain, but he quickly covered it up, afraid to make her upset. He knew that she would ask this question. He expected it, and he shouldn't have been upset. Four years since his mom died, and people brought it up all the time, never affecting him at all. But the way she asked it, like it was her fault…

"It took a few months…" he lied. It took Jacob two years to fully get over what happened. He never got over the lies Bella told him. How she would come back, or call or something. "Bells?" he asked in the same tone that she used.

"Hmm?"

"Why didn't you come back?" he asked her, letting his truck come to a stop at a red light. He took that time to glance at her.

"I couldn't." she answered, looking back at him. "I couldn't afford it and my mom didn't want me going back. She thought it was what my dad deserved. I don't know…but I called my dad and tried to call you. But I got as far as dialing the first two numbers…and then I put the phone down."

"Why was it so hard to call me?" Jake asked, noticing the green light and speeding up. "It was just me."

"Because I knew I would have to tell you that I couldn't come back. And I couldn't do that to you…not after what happened to your mom, Jake."

Everything was silent after that. Bella didn't know what to say, and Jacob didn't seem to want to break the silence himself. Bella regretted her words after that. "Jacob?"

"…yeah?" he returned lightly.

"When you…kissed me…" Bella didn't really want to ask, but her mouth was leaving her behind. "Did you do it…because you wanted to or because I was leaving?"

The silence that followed was so loud, Bella thought her eardrums would bust, then, "I wanted to kiss you, Bells."

And with that, no one spoke for the rest of the way home.

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Review? Thanks for reading!


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